A GEEK DADDY: Sharing a dad's adventures in parenting plus enjoying the geeky side of life

Friday, January 27, 2017

WONDER CREW BUDDIES FROM PLAYMONSTER

Growing up with a twin sister my son's best friend to play with of course was a little girl and playing dolls with her was no big deal just as pretending to race toy cars was something she regularly did with him. We haven't stressed gender specific toys with either of the twins letting them play with whatever age appropriate things they expressed an interest in. My son has a boy American Girl doll that is a twin to the one his sister has that they played with together quite a bit when they were in preschool and kindergarten. On the other hand, my daughter has her own fair share of Star Wars action figures and Hot Wheels toy cars that she and my son still play with a lot together. So from our family's own experiences, I understand the value there is in kids engaging in imaginative play with dolls and also the stigma out there against boys playing with them.

Playing with dolls has been proven to help children develop important social skills when it comes to communicative, nurturing and empathetic behavior. With all the problems being reported in the news lately regarding women dealing with physical and sexual abuse on college campuses (according to National Sexual Violence Resource Center 1 in 5 women are sexually assaulted while in college), this dad of a young daughter believes we should be providing more of a focus on our sons at an early age to assist them with developing some of the social skills which I just mentioned to help head off bad behavior later in life. So when I learned about the new WONDER CREW dolls from PLAYMONSTER, I wanted to give them a great big A Geek Daddy nod of approval!

Combining the adventure element of an action figure with the emotional connection of a stuffed animal, 15" WONDER CREW buddies are dolls meant for boys to play with. The WONDER CREW toy lineup is targeted to boys ages 2 - 5 and consists of four buddies of different races that are wearing super hero gear. Each individually sold doll comes wearing a super hero mask and cape with a matching one for a child to wear as well when playing with it. Additional "Adventure Packs" in the themes of builder, explorer and snuggler (for bedtime) outfits for the dolls and matching gear for the child will be sold separately. PlayMonster is turning the table on the conversation about gender stereotypes and toys by encouraging boys to play with a WONDER CREW buddy.

Laurel Wider, a psychotherapist and mom, came up with the idea for WONDER CREW after her son came home from
preschool one day and announced that “boys aren’t supposed to cry." Frustrated by many of the messages boys were
(and weren't) receiving and inspired by the way play influences child
development, Wider created WONDER CREW to
encourage kids to connect emotionally and be their full selves. Launched as a successful 2015 Kickstarter campaign, WONDER CREW led to an invitation to Wider from the White House about
speaking during a conference on breaking stereotypes in media and toys. Now PlayMonster has licensed the toy rights from Wider and will be distributing the WONDER CREW at retail outlets across the United States starting this year.

"We are thrilled to bring WONDER CREW into the PlayMonster portfolio,” Bob Wann, Chief PlayMonster of
PlayMonster LLC communicated to A Geek Daddy. “We know from consumer research that boys ages 2 – 5 are
already playing with dolls, yet there is a distinct hole in the marketplace for
them. PlayMonster believes it’s the perfect time to introduce this important toy line to
mass market as big retailers and our industry are together breaking down gender
stereotypes to help boys develop their emotional maturity including compassion
and kindness."

PlayMonster is generously providing A Geek Daddy with a WONDER CREW doll to giveaway. One lucky winner will be able to select their choice of Will, Marco, Erik or James from the WONDER CREW doll collection. For a chance to win you must follow
@Geekdad248 on Twitter and retweet our original contest tweet
embedded below before February 3, 2017 @ 11:59 pm ET. Must be a US resident over 18 years old to participate.

A Geek Daddy has not been financially compensated
for this
endorsement or hosting the giveaway. The prize is provided
by PlayMonster and A Geek Daddy is hosting the promotion as a
benefit to our readers. Must be a US resident over the age of 18 to
participate. One entry per person and
winner will be randomly selected
from all eligible entries. If you have already won this prize through
another blog participating in this promotion, your entry will be
disqualified. By participating in this promotion you
waive
any liability of any kind
against the publisher of this blog. Winner is subject to eligibility
verification. No P.O. Boxes allowed for delivery of the prize. PlayMonster
will be responsible for shipping the prize to the selected winner.